Sports wire

Les Miles has a new seven-year contract at LSU that also will result in a pay raise.

College football

Miles gets new deal to stay at LSU

Les Miles has a new seven-year contract at LSU that also will result in a pay raise.

The new contract runs through 2019, which amounts to a two-year extension. LSU athletic directorJoe Alleva said financial details still were being worked out and will be released after LSU plays in its bowl game to close out this season.

A person familiar with the contract said that Miles’ new annual pay would be in the range of $4.3 million.

Miles’ previous contract paid about $3.75 million annually through 2017.

Arkansas reportedly offered Miles a five-year contract worth $27.5 million late Tuesday.

Miles said Arkansas representatives reached out to him in a preliminary way, but he also said reports of a five-year, $27.5 million offer to take over the Razorbacks’ program were “not true.”& amp; amp; amp; lt; /p>

Miles, who has an 85-20 record in eight seasons, is LSU’s second-winningest coach. Before yesterday’s agreement, Miles’ contract paid him a base salary of $3.751 million, plus postseason and academic bonuses.

• Kent State’s Darrell Hazell has been named the Mid-American Conference’s coach of the year after directing the Golden Flashes’ stunning turnaround.

In his second season, Hazell has Kent State ranked in the Associated Press poll for the first time since 1973 and headed to its first bowl game since 1972. The No. 18 Golden Flashes have won 10 straight games going into the MAC title game on Friday against No. 19 Northern Illinois.

Kent State’s 11 victories are the most in the program’s 90-year history.

Hazell spent seven years as an assistant at Ohio State before he was hired at Kent State.

• Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel and Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o are among the five finalists for the Walter Camp player of the year award.

Oregon running back Kenjon Barner and Southern California receiver Marqise Lee are the other finalists. The award will be presented on Dec. 6.

Colleges

ACC agrees to add Louisville

The Atlantic Coast Conference moved to offset the impending loss of Maryland by voting to add Louisville, the latest shift in the rapidly reshaping landscape of college athletics.

The ACC announced that its Council of Presidents — the leaders of each member institution —voted unanimously to accept Louisville’s letter of application. The Cardinals will thus leave the Big East, dealing that league another damaging blow.

Neither the ACC nor Louisville announced the timing for the move, but it is expected to replace Maryland for the 2014-15 academic year — when the Terrapins are scheduled to depart for the Big Ten.

Louisville brings to the ACC a men’s basketball program rich in tradition and a football program that appears on the rise. The Cardinals also have had recent success in such nonrevenue sports as women’s basketball, men’s soccer and baseball.

• Middle Tennessee has accepted an offer to join Conference USA and is leaving the Sun Belt, a person familiar with the situation said.

NHL

Maple Leafs tops in team value

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the first hockey team to be worth $1 billion, more than triple the average value of NHL franchises, according to an annual survey released by Forbes.

The NHL’s 30 teams are worth an average $282 million, a 17.5 percent rise over last year largely because of what Forbes said was the league’s ability to raise ticket prices, increase attendance and renew or secure lucrative sponsorships.

But the spread between rich and poor teams proved dramatic as the NHL’s top five teams are worth an average $605 million versus the $145 million average value of the bottom five teams.

The New York Rangers ($750 million) and Montreal Canadiens ($575 million) were second and third on the list and together with the Maple Leafs accounted for 83 percent of the NHL’s income.

The Blue Jackets ($145 million) were 28th, a 5 percent decrease from last year. Only Phoenix (134 million) and St. Louis ($130 million) were worse.

• The Phoenix Coyotes have taken a major step toward securing an owner.

All that’s left is one last hurdle.

Glendale’s City Council voted late Tuesday in favor of a reworked, $320 million arena management deal with Greg Jamison, clearing the way for the former San Jose Sharks CEO to complete his purchase of the team from the NHL.

The new arena deal requires Jamison to complete his purchase of the team from the NHL by Jan. 21, 2013, a deadline he was confident would be met.

Auto racing

Trucks to race on dirt at Eldora

NASCAR will race on the dirt for the first time since 1970 next season when the Truck Series visits Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

The trucks will go to the Tony Stewart-owned track on July 24 as a lead-in to the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races later that weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Elsewhere

United’s Wolf to retire

Former U.S. national team and D.C. United forward Josh Wolff is retiring as a player and will be a full-time assistant coach with the Major League Soccer club.

Wolff’s professional career included stops with the Chicago Fire and Kansas City Wizards in MLS, and in Germany. In MLS, he had 80 goals and 49 assists in 267 regular-season games.

• The U.S. Figure Skating Championships will be held in Greensboro, N.C., in 2015 and in St. Paul, Minn., in 2016, U.S. Figure Skating announced.

Next year’s U.S. championships will be in Omaha, Neb.

— From wire reports

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